Profile in Courage Competence When the virus hit, neither Mr. Trump nor the federal government were technically in charge. Most of the decisive constitutional powers ” closing schools or ordering people to stay home ” lay with U.S. governors and mayors. But the President immediately assumed a leading role, coordinating regular exchanges between the governors,...Read More
Making the Mattress Look Good “Investors are willing to lose a little to make sure they don’t lose a lot.” –“Accentuate the Negative”; The Economist (1/24/2015) Could today’s already infinitesimal interest rates ever actually fall below zero, to the point where mortgages sport negative interest rates? My knee jerk reaction is, “Of course not! That...Read More
No, that’s not the yield on the U.S. 10-year bond (rapidly dropping towards 2%). It’s the yield — as of this morning — on Germany’s 10-year bond, regarded as an even safer bet than U.S. debt. Aside from a little confusion (I thought Deutsche marks were replaced by euro’s?), it raises this question: if at...Read More
Goldman Sachs & the 4 Not-So-Little PIIG’s Wall Street did not create Europe’s debt problem. But bankers enabled Greece and others to borrow beyond their means, in deals that were perfectly legal. –“Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis“; The New York Times(2/14/2010) We all know the basic story line by now....Read More
